The summary for policymakers alone is 44 pages and the full report contains 1,552, so it's necessary to be rather brief in this initial report on the newly-released documents. Later analysis is the place to go deeper. Let's start with the summary's assessment of the “observed impacts, vulnerability and adaptation” to climate change.

Confidence level Observed phenomenon resulting from climate change

Very High Differences in vulnerability and exposure arise from non-climatic factors and from multidimensional inequalities often produced by uneven development processes

Very High Impacts from recent climate-related extremes, such as heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires, reveal significant vulnerability and exposure of some ecosystems and many human systems to current climate variability

High Adaptation and mitigation choices in the near-term will affect the risks of climate change throughout the 21st century

High Adaptation experience is accumulating across regions in the public and private sector and within communities

High Adaptation is becoming embedded in some planning processes, with more limited implementation of responses

High Based on many studies covering a wide range of regions and crops, negative impacts of climate change on crop yields have been more common than positive impacts

High Climate-related hazards exacerbate other stressors, often with negative outcomes for livelihoods, especially for people living in poverty

High Many terrestrial, freshwater, and marine species have shifted their geographic ranges, seasonal activities, migration patterns, abundances, and species interactions in response to ongoing climate change

High Responding to climate-related risks involves decision-making in a changing world, with continuing uncertainty about the severity and timing of climate-change impacts and with limits to the effectiveness of adaptation

High Uncertainties about future vulnerability, exposure, and responses of interlinked human and natural systems are large

Medium In many regions, changing precipitation or melting snow and ice are altering hydrological systems, affecting water resources in terms of quantity and quality

The summary then presents the following eight “key risks” that the IPCC feels “are identified with high confidence, span sectors and regions.”

The risks are:

Risk of death, injury, ill-health, or disrupted livelihoods in low-lying coastal zones and small island developing states and other small islands, due to storm surges, coastal flooding, and sea-level rise

Risk of severe ill-health and disrupted livelihoods for large urban populations due to inland flooding in some regions.Systemic risks due to extreme weather events leading to breakdown of infrastructure networks and critical services such as electricity, water supply, and health and emergency services

Risk of mortality and morbidity during periods of extreme heat, particularly for vulnerable urban populations and those working outdoors in urban or rural areas.

Risk of food insecurity and the breakdown of food systems linked to warming, drought, flooding, and precipitation variability and extremes, particularly for poorer populations in urban and rural settings.

Risk of loss of rural livelihoods and income due to insufficient access to drinking and irrigation water and reduced agricultural productivity, particularly for farmers and pastoralists with minimal capital in semi-arid regions.

Risk of loss of marine and coastal ecosystems, biodiversity, and the ecosystem goods, functions, and services they provide for coastal livelihoods, especially for fishing communities in the tropics and the Arctic.

Risk of loss of terrestrial and inland water ecosystems, biodiversity, and the ecosystem goods, functions, and services they provide for livelihoods.

_________________With friends like Guido, you will not have enemies for long.

“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none” Arthur Schopenhauer

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."Albert Einstein

"For the second time in three weeks, a United Nations panel sent a loud-and-clear message—now is the time to divest from fossil fuels.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released another addition to its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) Sunday in Berlin, Germany, entitled Climate Change 2014: Mitigation of Climate Change, to detail how the world can keep the global warming threshold below 2 degrees Celsius.

The Working Group III (WGIII) report relied on 235 authors and 31 modeling teams around the world that provided 1,200 scenarios to the keep the world from warming beyond that limit. All of the scenarios are costly, according to a statement from the IPCC, but as the UN panel stated in March, the alternatives are much worse.

“Climate policies in line with the two degrees Celsius goal need to aim for substantial emission reductions,” said Ottmar Edenhofer, a WGIII co-chair. “There is a clear message from science: To avoid dangerous interference with the climate system, we need to move away from business as usual.”"http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/14/ipcc-fos ... ivestment/

What they fail to say is rapid decarbonization requires rapid population reduction. It isn't just fossil fuels, it is slash and burn agriculture, that also has to be rapidly reduced.

_________________"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”― Chief Seattle“Those Who Have the Privilege to Know Have the Duty to Act”…Albert Einstein